


Day 5: Gunpoint

by Aelaer



Series: Whumptober 2019 [5]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Stephen Strange Bingo 2019, Stephen being a good friend, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 15:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20997092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aelaer/pseuds/Aelaer
Summary: The moment she got home, three hours after she was supposed to be home, Christine Palmer called in sick for work the next day. She was expected to be at work in five hours resembling a competent doctor; her being able to function, never mind function with competence, was doubtful in a mere five hours.Afterwards, she hopped in the shower and scrubbed herself down as fast as she was able to in her current state of mind. When she pulled on her pajamas and crawled into bed, Christine expected to crash.But her brain wouldn't shut off. It couldn't. It just kept replaying the last few hours over and over again and it made her feel both numb and angry and everything in between.





	Day 5: Gunpoint

**Author's Note:**

> This also fulfills my "Doctor Palmer" square on my Bingo card because by God, I'm going to finish my card before the Nov 30 deadline.

The moment she got home, three hours after she was supposed to be home, Christine Palmer called in sick for work the next day. She was expected to be at work in five hours resembling a competent doctor; her being able to function, never mind function with competence, was doubtful in a mere five hours.

Afterwards, she hopped in the shower and scrubbed herself down as fast as she was able to in her current state of mind. When she pulled on her pajamas and crawled into bed, Christine expected to crash.

But her brain wouldn't shut off. It couldn't. It just kept replaying the last few hours over and over again and it made her feel both numb and angry and everything in between.

Sometime, somehow, she got to sleep and woke up around noon. Despite all that sleep, exhaustion still sunk into her bones and all the immediate things were done last night, so the last thing she wanted to do was deal with the world. So she got out a tub of ice cream and turned on TLC for some of the most mindless entertainment available.

It was sometime in the evening and Christine had traded out the ice cream for a package of cookies that were meant to last for another month but, at the rate they were being demolished, would be lucky to last much longer. She was on her third hour of _Say Yes To The Dress_ when she heard a knock at her door.

"Christine?"

Oh. Shit. Today was Wednesday, aka Finally Catching Up With Stephen And His Cult Activities after not seeing each other for three months. She completely forgot.

"I couldn't get a hold of you. I finally called the hospital and they said you're sick. Can I come in?"

He could probably hear the TV. She muted it and called, "Sorry, yeah, let me unlock the door," but just as she got up a bunch of glowy sparks appeared in her living room and Stephen stepped through. "Or not," she mumbled.

"Are you okay?" he asked. He was wearing normal clothes (expected) but also had a shopping bag (unexpected). "Brought some soup," he said as he caught her glance, lifting the bag slightly. "I figured if you were so out of it to call in sick, that you'd not have much energy to feed yourself." He glanced at the packet of cookies with raised brows and added, "Properly, at least."

"Hah," she answered, and flopped back on the couch. She pulled the blanket over her pajamas again. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot about our plans. I just…" Christine trailed off and shook her head.

Stephen's brow furrowed and he sat down beside her. "What happened?"

She looked at him from the side of her eyes. "Who's saying anything happened?"

"You don't call in sick unless you can't physically get out of bed; when you somehow did make it in, the hospital sent you home. And you're not sick, at least to that point. So it's something else that caused you to call in, something that really upset you."

Christine sighed. "Your attention to detail is both the best and the absolute worst thing."

He smirked at her response, then sobered as he shot her a truly compassionate, worried look and she still couldn't believe how different he was from when they were dating, but that old Stephen might have been easier to deal with on all this. She sighed again and looked away from him. "You're going to think I'm stupid." What with all the crazy things he did now.

"Christine," he said softly, and ugh, she hated him sometimes.

"It's stupid," she mumbled, keeping her gaze off him and instead on the muted television. The gown the current woman was trying on was one of the ugliest wedding dresses she'd ever seen, and it was five thousand dollars. God.

Stephen said nothing, just sat there in silent support and Christine couldn't stand it after a moment. She knew it was stupid and he would think it was stupid and if she got it out of the way quickly, she could get over his light chastising and move on with her life. "Look, I went to the corner store down the road last night after my shift and when I was making my purchase I got stuck in an armed robbery there. They took my purse and it really sucked cancelling all my cards and talking to the police for over two hours. I am just really tired."

She could hear Stephen's frown in his voice. "That's not stupid at all. You said the robber was armed?"

Had she? She supposed she did. "Robbers. Two of them."

"Were you hurt?" he asked, all seriousness and kindness, and she couldn't stand it.

"No, I wasn't. He just waved a gun in my face for a few seconds and he took my purse and that was it. I wasn't hurt, it was really nothing, it's all just so stupid." Christine couldn't bear to look over at him.

He didn't say anything, but then she felt him shift and now he was right beside her. Stephen wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her a little closer into a comforting embrace and that little action broke her.

She cried quietly as she leaned against him and he didn't chastise her or mock her stupid emotions for basically nothing happening, and it was perhaps the kindest thing he had ever done for her, and better than any material gift she ever got from him when they were together, and if there wasn't the history and baggage….

But at the moment, he was making the best sort of friend. And that was enough.


End file.
